Is it possible to generate a random number

How were we able to navigate from the Earth to the Moon with such precision? When will AI be smart enough to outsmart people?

Is computer software always a step ahead of hardware? Can we use artificial intelligence to generate new ideas? Browse all questions.

It is possible to generate truly random numbers. Random numbers are generated from random unpredictable processes like thermal or atmospheric noises, cosmic radiations, etc.

We need special hardware or sensors which can measure such processes and there could be a program which can produce a number from the input of random events. As this method uses random events rather than a pre-defined algorithm, it can generate a truly random number. It is possible with a program accessing the wifi module in off-the-shelf computers. The idea behind this is described here : The random changes in noise level are recorded.

This noise is generally accepted as being random just turn your AM radio to some unoccupied frequency at daytime and listen to the noise the atmosphere produces. I think they follow some kind of poisson process, so the time between noise changes follows some exponential distribution. Maybe one could also use turning objects like the cooling fan or the hard disk as some kind of wheel of Fortune since their rotation speed can be controlled and recorded by software.

However, such random numbers tend to have one big drawback: You don't know their true distribution. So they are useless for most applications, except if you take the random number to seed a ordinary pseudo random number generator pRNG. Then the resulting pseudo random numbers are a bit less "pseudo" but still have a known frequency distribution. Sources of useful randomness with a better understood distribution usually need devices that are no longer part of usual computers.

Such devices need to comply to narrow specifications in order to produce the desired probabilities. Usual computers do not: You don't know how much your cooling fan's bearing is worn-out, which random noise your wifi actucally receives etc. Another downside: Generating real random numbers is much slower than pRNGs are, even if you have a specialized device that observes some radioactive decay in order to produce random numbers. So you may end up again with producing only the seed for the pRNG at random.

Yes you can use a computer with a computer program to measure these and translate them to numbers. The philosophical question would be: would you have a computer program generating random numbers or a: "phenomena measuring" program where the phenomenon happens to have a random factor.

The answer is no, but you first need to give a precise definition of randomness. I suggest you to read the wikipedia entry Algorithmically random sequence. I do know of one tool that uses radioactive decay to generate true random numbers, found here.

Generating true randomness from a simple computer with no extra hardware is not possible to my knowledge. Not intending to patent it :- therefore, every time you need a random number run the following algorithm:. However, this time use the live streaming from your device or attached microphone and not a record. Therefore any time someone interrupts you he will actually help you by providing unexpected noise.

The same happens if your neighbor call his son, or close is car dor. Present moment cannot be repeated absolutely. This even solves the problem of needing many random numbers. Yes, but there must be some random input. Block People Spotify. Verizon Selling PS5. Windows 11 SE Explained. Find Downloaded Files on an iPhone. Use Your iPhone as a Webcam. Hide Private Photos on iPhone.

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Change the Size of the Touch Keyboard. Check Bluetooth Device Battery Life. Reader Favorites Take Screenshot on Windows. Mount an ISO image in Windows. Boot Into Safe Mode. Disable Startup Programs in Windows. They may also utilize physical coin flipping and dice rolling processes.

Try this free Random Number Generator by Calculator. Encyclopedia Random Number Generator. Random Number Generator A random number generator is a hardware device or software algorithm that generates a number that is taken from a limited or unlimited distribution and outputs it.